Saturday, January 17, 2009

Elementary School Buildings

I went to Kaysville Elementary School when it was a gorgeous building. Here's a picture of it from the City of Distinction's homepage (doesn't it looks like the cover of a Wallace Stegner novel?)...

Chiseled into the facade was the established date: 1918. This is where my grandfather and my mother went to school. Sadly, mine was the last class to attend in this building. In 1984, the summer after I graduated 6th grade, the whole thing was leveled. Trees and all. This is what Kaysville Elementary looks like today...

Which is very similar in design to Morgan Elementary, where I attended 1st through 3rd grade...

Samuel Morgan Elementary, of course, is very similar in style to Columbia Elementary, where my little sisters attended...

And all of these are similar to Reba O. Steck Elementary where my son was attending before we left Chicago...

I'm a fan of Mies van der Rohe "less is more" architecture. I just don't understand when and why American elementary schools began to look less like school houses and more like discarded Fudgecicles with flagpoles.

This is why I'm still blown away by the beauty of my kids' building every time I walk them to school. Multiple levels. A working clock on the front surrounded by figures in mosaic tiles. A steeple. Now that's a school house...

Coincidentally, this school also features it's establishing date on its facade: 1918. The exact same year as Kaysville Elementary.